Thousands (Dollar 4)

He has a point.

“If we stayed in here until they vanished or we returned to the Phantom, would you regret not swimming with them or be relieved you hadn’t been so reckless?” He raised an eyebrow.

Regret. The answer was immediate. There was no other reply I could give. “Let’s go swimming.”

“I thought you’d say that.” With a grin, Elder called the Phantom to tell them to cut engines and hold position. Once the yacht slowed and the whitewash diminished, he pressed yet another button and propelled us upward.

Up and up, brighter and brighter as turquoise gloom gave way to glittering sun.

My stomach flipped a little as we popped like a corkscrew and came crashing down on the surface. Considering the submarine was shaped like an egg, we didn’t roll out of balance or sink back down. The constant hum of engines and ballast kept us the right way up.

I unbuckled my seatbelt, flinching a little as a dorsal fin swam past, imagining for a moment it was a shark and not the friendly dolphins we’d seen beneath.

Elder copied me, tugging off his harness and twisting uncomfortably to undo another portal above our heads. “We have to go out the top. The side is still underwater.” He pushed it wide, making me blink from the brightness, then placed his hands on the top and hoisted himself up effortlessly.

Once again, my mind painted a fantasy of his dragon making him fly. How did such a big man come across so graceful and weightless?

Scrambling to stand, I assessed how to climb out. My bones were useless; my muscles an embarrassment after two years of no exercise and lots of pain. But a hand appeared, followed by Elder’s gorgeous face as he blocked the sun. “Take it.”

My heart transformed into a butterfly as I clutched his forearm and his fingers wrapped tight around me. He yanked me upright, through the porthole, and straight to my feet with one powerful jerk.

I wobbled as my toes landed on the slippery outer shell of the submarine. Back on the Phantom, the vessel had looked silver. Out here, beneath the sun, it glittered with the coolest luminescent blue—so light and reflective it almost became invisible amongst the waves.

The Phantom loomed above us with its gleaming brass rigging and immaculate balconies. Images of me tethering myself to one while the thunder and rain did its best to kill me brought back yet more heart squeezing memories of Elder being there with me. Of Elder protecting me even when I didn’t want to be protected. Of Elder understanding and standing beside me as an equal rather than my saviour.

I wanted all my memories to include him.

I wanted all my experiences to be with him.

“After you.” He bowed, releasing my arm as he turned to face the sea. Dolphins lolled on their backs with flippers out of the water while others swam on their sides, their intelligent eyes tracking us.

Could dolphins turn aggressive? I didn’t know the correct etiquette for swimming with these mammals, but Elder didn’t give me a choice. “Go on. Stop thinking. That ruins all the fun.”

“Worry is what ruins all the fun…not thinking.”

His eyebrow rose as if to say sometimes circumstances wanted worry, but this was not one of them. “Suit yourself.” With a smile, he spread his arms then back-flipped off the submarine.

“El—” I darted to the side; my feet slipped and gravity took hold.

Oh, no!

I made the split-second decision to leap rather than tumble.

My tummy flipped as I shed standing for flight, then held my breath as the smack of cool ocean sucked me into its embrace.

Something alive shot by my foot, followed by a quick nudge of something not quite skin and not quite slimy.

Holy hell.

I kicked for the surface only to have Elder wrap me in his arms and haul me from the deep. Water streamed over my eyes as I hung in his arms, extremely aware of how slippery our bodies were now wet and glued to each other.

Memories of swimming beneath the moon with him made my insides clench. My eyes latched onto his mouth, desperate for a kiss.

I’d gone from normal to frenzied in two seconds flat.

My legs wrapped around his hips, partly for buoyancy, but mostly because of the pounding instinctual need to join. He groaned as his legs continued to kick, keeping us afloat. My fingers threaded through his soaking hair.

I need…

His right arm let me go, circling in the water for balance. His left arm tightened around me, his fingers digging into my waist. “Pimlico…what are you doing?”

My eyes turned heavy. My voice thick. “I-I’m…just, let me…once.”

I kissed him before he could argue.

The surge of affection made me breathless as his cool, salty lips yielded to mine.

He let me kiss him. Before…he didn’t.

In a breath, I went from kissing him to being kissed by him. Spinning me with a powerful kick, he slammed me against the submarine and pressed himself against me skin to skin.